Nowadays, working from home is the dream of many – a dream that more and more people turn into reality. Developing your own home business has become extremely popular, mostly thanks to the 21st century technologies.

However, being your own boss and organizing your workday can be both blessing and a curse. The usual pros are the cost-effectiveness, flexibility and less level of stress because you’re working in your home environment.

On the other hand, with lots of freedom comes a lot of responsibility and many things need to be taken into account.

Cons that most people complain about are a high risk of failure, distractions at home and the inability to organize their work hours efficiently.

If you want to set up a home business and stay productive and successful, here are some golden rules to follow. They’ll help you in avoiding some common pitfalls when having your home business.

Promote your business online

The costs of promotion and marketing have become significantly lower in the last couple of years. We can thank the Internet for this. Luckily, having your account on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn doesn’t cost a penny and if you don’t want to invest in your promotion – you don’t have to.

However, when your business sets off, you may want to set aside a small budget and promote your pages on social networks. Even if you’re in retail business, you can just open an online store and do most of your work from home without renting the premises and spending money on utility bills that come with.

Make use of project management software

If you have many clients, you may need an efficient way to include them in what you’re doing. With the help of project management tool you can keep track of your projects, include your clients in your work, communicate with them, issue invoices, quotes, manage clients’ payments and never miss a deadline.

There is an abundance of great tools for managing all aspects of your business. Most of these solutions are free for small teams and individual users.

Some project management tools don’t count clients as members so you can invest a small amount of money and benefit a lot by using them. Having an account in one of such solutions will make you look professional in front of your business clients and more importantly – it will facilitate and improve your business.

Glam-up your home office

In order to be successful while working from home, you must separate work from your living space and set up a “real” office. Even if you won’t meet clients here (or use Skype and camera to communicate with them), your office should motivate you for doing some hard work and keep you away from the hustle and bustle so you can work in peace.

All those hours of sitting in bad chairs will surely leave consequences if you don’t pay attention – that’s why buying modern ergonomic furniture is a smart investment. Elegant and beautiful furniture, lots of plants, natural light and good ventilation will inspire you to spend lots of time in your office – not run away from it. Accentuate one wall by painting it in a bright, striking color to fill your space with positive energy.

Don’t give up on your routine

People who work from home know that one of the most challenging parts is keeping your routine. Having a designated work area is the first step towards productivity, but unfortunately, that’s not enough to stay motivated. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not having work hours.

We know that one of the greatest things about being your own boss is flexible hours, but if you don’t discern “office hours” from “free hours”, you’ll lose your focus and increase the stress levels. This can significantly affect your social life as well.